Interview: Simon Lazenby

(c) Sky Sports F1

There was a buzz around the F1 Paddock when the Sky Sports F1 line up was revealed. Having nabbed some of F1’s greatest personalities and talents, like Martin Brundle and Ted Kravitz, their team looked ready to take on the brand new challenge. But obviously some new names came onto the scene. These names, like Simon Lazenby, have been Sky Sports regulars for many years.

Simon Lazenby has become the Jake Humphrey of Sky Sports F1. A true F1 fan, he started his career off at Sky Sports in work experience. They were so impressed they kept him on and he has since presented Rugby Union and Cricket. Simon is a good-humoured, sport loving person and sets his sights on a new challenge, as he travels around the world with the F1 circus. Simon answers some of my questions after the first 2 races of the season, and what a few races they were.

JL: 1)Thanks for answering my questions Simon, firstly, you have just started your journey in the world of F1, have you always been a fan? What was your earliest memory?

SL: Yes I've always been a fan. Earliest memory was Mansell banging his head off the front tyre as he pushed his car over the line in the USA. But I also was hooked on the Senna/Prost battles of the late 80s.

2) You started working for Sky Sports on work experience; did you ever think you would end up presenting all around the world?

I've been pretty lucky to have done a couple of Lions tours with SKY down in NZ and South Africa but didn't see this one coming until I was offered the job. It's a great chance to see the world.

3) Looking back at your first Grand Prix weekend, how do you think it went? Were there any things you think needed to be improved?

It went as well as we could have hoped but there is still so much to be worked on. It was the first GP Sky had covered remember and of course there will always be a few people out there gunning for you but we know that as we do more hopefully things will keep improving.

4) Looking at the opening race weekend as a whole, what was your highlight of the weekend? Any experience that stood out?

The highlight was getting into McLaren as the darkness descended for the team photo. That was great access.

5) Moving on to Malaysia, what was the toughest part about that race weekend?

Keeping the sweat stains from showing!

6) During the red flag at the Malaysian Grand Prix, where did you go and what did you do during that pause?

We went to Williams and watched from there, knowing that any point they might come back to Damon and I particularly as they were on back-up power in commentary after the lightning took out the main power.

7) You have joined a team alongside some of the world's most talented sports presenters, journalists and drivers, was there any pressure joining a team with such big names in the world of F1?

Yep, loads of pressures as these guys have been around the sport much longer than I have. At the end of the day though they are now team mates and we are working towards the goal of making our coverage the best for the viewer, so we all help each other as best we can.

(c) Sky Sports F1

8) What are the team's best and worst features, whether it’s off camera or on it?

It is probably a bit too long to go through each of the 12 teams, plus I've only done two GP so I might reserve judgement on this question.

9) Looking on to China, what are your predictions for the race?

Too early to say and depends on factors as we saw in Malaysia. If it stays dry though I think we'll get to see a true reflection of where each team is at for the first time.

10) Are there any races that you are particularly looking forward to?

Singapore will be great and looking forward to Austin in Texas. Apparently it's as democratic a city as you can get in a staunch republican state. And don't they have SXSW the music festival there? It's supposed to be a great spot.
I would like to thanks Simon for answering my questions. It is interesting to see he still can not see a true order in the current pack. I do agree with him however, if all is dry in China we will see who is at the front and who is at the back.

Follow Simon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/SimonLazenbySky
His Sky Sports F1 Profile: http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/presenters/simon-lazenby/profile

Look out for more interviews from the Sky Sports F1 team here at JackLeslieF1 - The F1 Blog.